


good mourning (the a Queen, a Clotpole, and Witch Remix)

by harsassypotters



Series: Merlin fics! [4]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Fix-It, Gen, POV Second Person, Poetry, Remix, gratuitous use of commas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:01:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28410564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harsassypotters/pseuds/harsassypotters
Summary: Warlock (n):1. They call you warlock, not sorcerer, as if that will make you feel better about letting the others burn.2. It doesn’t.
Series: Merlin fics! [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2053980
Comments: 8
Kudos: 38





	good mourning (the a Queen, a Clotpole, and Witch Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Smiley5494](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smiley5494/gifts).
  * Inspired by [a Queen, a Clotpole, and a Witch](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28214325) by [Smiley5494](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smiley5494/pseuds/Smiley5494). 



> After five pages in my math notebook dedicated to random verses that fall into my mind, a very broken heart, three days spent trying to write this poem, and a million problems uploading the poetry format to AO3, the remix is finally here!
> 
> Title from the song Good Mourning by Halsey.

Warlock (n):

  1. They call you warlock, not sorcerer, as if that will make you feel better about letting the others burn.
  2. It doesn’t.
  3. You still dream of fire, and smoke, and ashes filling your lungs until you can no longer breathe.
  4. But you never scream or cry or complain, because this is the life you were born into. And you can never leave it.
  5. You protect the son of the Tyrant King, and try not to feel too much like a traitor to your own kind.
  6. _Not your kind. You are a warlock, and this is your destiny._
  7. You want to scream long and hard sometimes, for the ones murdered in the courtyard you walk across every day, to let them know they are not forgotten.
  8. But you do not.
  9. Because you are afraid.
  10. By the time Morgana starts to scream--from the nightmares that rip her sanity apart by the seams--you are very tired of fear.



  
  
  
  
  


High Priestess (n):

  1. She calls you a High Priestess, not sorceress, as if that’s supposed to make you less afraid of burning.
  2. It doesn’t.
  3. You live in a land haunted by the pyre since before you were born. _What is life without fear?_
  4. But you ~~think~~ know you love Morgause.
  5. You ~~have to~~ want to. She is the only one who does not cower at golden eyes and blood-curdling dreams.
  6. Because that is all you are, now.
  7. And more than anything, you ~~cannot~~ do not want to die alone.
  8. Your father died alone. On a battlefield stained with blood. With no one to hold him in their arms and comfort him.
  9. So you play along. Half-heartedly.
  10. You are a pawn, and when you reach the end of the chessboard you will become queen, but every step is difficult.
  11. You always wanted power, so why does it nauseate you know?
  12. Deep at night, when it feels like you are the only soul awake, you whisper to the moon that you miss when the only power you wielded was the sword you twisted in your hands, cold and real.
  13. You try to ignore the faces of ~~your brother~~ the Tyrant King’s son, and his ~~friend~~ servant, and your ~~best friend~~ handmaiden as you plot their bloody deaths. 
  14. There. See? You’re doing it.
  15. You hate yourself.
  16. So when _he_ approaches you, eyes swimming with defiance to hide the fear underneath, a tattered old spellbook in hand, you breathe easily for the first time in a year. 



  
  


Friend (n):

  1. You know the value of secrets.
  2. Servants are the hidden gears of the world of nobles, with their poisoned wine and illegitimate children.
  3. _Two can keep a secret, if one of them is dead_.
  4. This secret, though, might kill all of you.
  5. _Why shouldn’t I tell_?
  6. There are guards outside who have been trained to draw their swords at the lightest whisper of sorcery.
  7. _Because you’re our friend_.
  8. You know they could be tricking you.
  9. That’s what magic does. It walks into your home with a cloak and a bag of gold and kills your father.
  10. _Please, Gwen_.
  11. You keep their secret--because these are your friends, and your value as one is written in the burns on your hands from forging a sword in the death of the night.



  
  


Magic (n):

  1. Magic brought you your ~~manservant~~ only friend.
  2. _Why didn’t you tell me_?
  3. You don’t want it to rip you apart.
  4. _You’d have chopped my head off_.
  5. Morgause and her apprentice--a Druid girl, of maybe twenty years--are dead, turned to ashes. Two pairs of golden eyes stand over them, swaying, different stems from the same root.
  6. _I don’t know what I’d have done, honestly_.
  7. The city sleeps, a magical slumber. When they wake up, everything will fall to you.
  8. _Destinies are troublesome things, Arthur._
  9. You don’t think well on the spot--there are reasons a sorcerer writes your speeches ahead of time.
  10. This time, though, it’s different.
  11. _I ran her through with my own sword, Father, I swear on my life and my honor_.



**Author's Note:**

> first poetry attempt, so please go easy on me. (yes, this is my way of asking for kudos and comments)
> 
> Note: The line 'Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead' is from the song Secret2020 by The Pierces.


End file.
